


all I want for christmas... is you

by wallpaperflower



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Awesome Pepper Potts, Christmas Fluff, College Student Peter Parker, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Good Surprises, Little bit of angst, M/M, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter goes to MIT, Prankster Peter Parker, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21838483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallpaperflower/pseuds/wallpaperflower
Summary: Peter is supposed to come home from MIT for Christmas break, but claims he can't due to several projects that need to be finished. Tony, of course, is bummed by the news, but Peter has a few tricks up his sleeve. With the help of Pepper, he might be able to pull off the perfect Christmas surprise.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 9
Kudos: 198





	all I want for christmas... is you

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been in my head for some time now, and I'm glad I actually got it posted. Enjoy my Christmas fic!   
> <3

The day Peter moved to the MIT campus, Tony’s days got quieter. Lonelier. Sure, Pepper was there, along with Rhodey, Happy and even May. They’re all great, don’t get him wrong, but none of them were... Peter. The teenage boy who rambled on about Star Wars, science, and his daily experiences as Spider-Man any chance he got. The kid that had a huge brain, an even bigger heart, and not a single bad bone is his body. The kid that helped people whenever they need it for any reason. The kid that wore cheesy science t-shirts and made even cheesier jokes. The kid who wormed his way into Tony’s heart and stuck close, refusing to let go.

Peter still called often, saying how much he loved the campus, his classes, his teachers, his projects, his dorm, and so many other things. And Tony was happy for him, he really was. He just wished that Peter could catch a long enough break to come and visit his old man.

He hadn’t seen Peter since he moved out, and Tony longed for a lab day or a movie night with his kid, just like they used to have. A night where they order pizza and work in the lab for unhealthy hours. Where they then retire to a movie night, bowls of popcorn on both sides of the couch. Where Peter tells Tony he’s not tired, yet falls asleep at the man’s side halfway through the movie, his chest steadily rising and falling. Where Tony firmly wraps one arm around the kid, and runs the other through his soft curls. Where he gives such a fond smile towards the sleeping boy that he thinks his face will split in half. Where Tony has feelings of such  _ love  _ and  _ adoration  _ and  _ pride  _ that he only gets when he looks at his kid. Where they both fall asleep, cuddled up, blanket draped over their laps, bowls of spilled popcorn long forgotten. Where Pepper finds them that next morning, still zonked out and bundled together. Where she takes a picture and sends it to a group chat consisting of herself, May, Happy, and Rhodey. Where she asks Friday to print out a copy so she can leave it on Tony’s desk. 

Where Tony finds the picture later, picks it up, smiles, and decides to frame it. 

But if Tony can’t get that, a hug would be just as great, too. A moment for Tony to hold Peter close, and tell him how much he loves him, how proud he was of him, and that he always would be there for him. 

And Tony was going to get that moment in only three short weeks. Peter was off for Christmas break, and though he tried not to show it, Tony was ecstatic. He’d missed the hell out of his kid, and now he’ll finally get to see him. About a week before Peter’s arrival date, he called with some rather  melancholy news. Over the phone, he told Tony that three of his teachers assigned unbelievably huge projects with due dates the day after break ends. He said that he could possibly bring one project down to work on there, but he can’t bring the other two, for they were too big, and needed to stay in the labs at MIT. 

Tony tried not to let his disappointment show, but it was hard. Peter continuously apologized and said how pissed he was at his teachers, and that he’ll find a date that he can for sure come down and visit. Tony had bluntly agreed, and offered for them to come down to the campus instead of him coming home, but Peter turned down the offer, saying he didn’t want them driving in the bad weather conditions. 

With a sigh, a reassurement, and a promise to talk again soon, they ended the call with one another. The man had pulled the phone away from his ear, and was left looking at the profile picture he had for Peter. His brain flipped back to that occasion.

It was a good day. The kid had gotten an A on the test that he had studied for weeks leading up to it. To celebrate, Tony picked the teenager up from school and took him to get ice cream. Upon exit of the parlor, sweet treats in hand, Peter thought it would be a marvelous idea to take a selfie and send it to Pepper and his aunt. 

Tony had reluctantly agreed, not wanting to ruin the mood. He wasn’t a big selfie person, but he’d do anything to keep the smile on his kid’s face. 

So Tony whipped out his phone, and put it on the so-called ‘selfie mode’. He used his left hand to hold the phone, and carefully wrapped the other with his ice cream around Peter, not wanting to smudge the treat onto either of their clothes. Just before he pressed the white button to take a picture, he took the hand that held his ice cream and squished a bit onto the kid’s nose, and then took the photo. 

It turned out great. Peter had a look of blissful joy on his face, while Tony’s face was scrunched in laughter. From that day, it was the man’s profile picture for the teenager. And he loved it. 

Coming back to reality, Tony looked up as Pepper entered the room. It took one glance from his fiancé to know something was wrong. 

“Why the long face?” She had asked. 

Tony sighed again, and looked back down at his phone, hoping for Peter to call him back and say that he miraculously finished all his projects, and could still come down. But that wasn’t happening. 

“Peter just called with some bad news. Says he’s swamped with projects that were assigned like, two days ago,” he continues, “I was really looking forward to him coming down.” 

“Really?” Pepper asked as she ran a hand through her  fiancé ’s disheveled hair. “You sure there’s no other way he can come down?” She asked, hoping for a positive response. 

“No,” Tony answered, gritting his teeth, “Two of his projects are too big to bring down to work on. He has to stay there to finish them.” 

Pepper gently rubbed his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, honey.” She sighed. “I really am.” 

“I know, Pep.” Tony mumbled. 

A few moments of silence passed before Tony decided to go back to the lab. He wished Pepper a farewell, and headed off. Not long after Tony left, Pepper’s phone rang. Looking down at the screen, she saw it was Peter who was calling her.

She scrunched her face in confusion, but answered nonetheless. 

“Peter?” She asked, partly worried. 

_ “Hey, Ms. Potts!”  _ The teen’s cheerful voice rang through the device.  _ “I have a quick question for you.” _

Pepper drew in a breath, now more curious than she was worried. “What is it?”

_ “Do you think you could help me plan a surprise Christmas visit?” _

_ ~ _

Christmas day came a lot faster than Tony had wanted it to. Before he knew it, he awoke to birds chirping and sunlight streaming in through the windows. The man rolled over, and looked at his  fiancé that was still sleeping peacefully beside him. The corner of his mouth quirked up. If he couldn’t have his whole family, at least he still had his loving wife. Well, his  _ almost  _ wife. Glancing over at the time, he saw it a quarter till ten. Their tradition was to always get up at ten on the dot, open presents they left under the tree for each other, and then eat a big, filling breakfast. He had about fifteen-ish minutes before he was going to wake Pepper, so he allowed his eyes slip close, and let himself rest for a little while. He must have drifted back to sleep, because the next thing his brain registered was Pepper gently rubbing his shoulder, saying it was time to get up. 

So they both hobbled out of their comfy, warm bed, and made their way to the main room. Upon entering, Tony’s eyes drifted over to the sparkling tree in the corner of the room. Planted right in front of it was a box about six feet high and four feet wide, encased in red wrapping paper, silver bow proudly planted on top. 

Tony’s jaw hung partially open. He was beyond confused, and didn’t have a clue what was in that box. He hadn’t even wanted anything for this year. Pepper always found a few small things that made for good presents, but  _ never  _ something this big. 

“Damn, Pep,” he chuckled, and gestured towards the box, “What the hell did you get me?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Pepper responded with a sing-song voice. “Actually, why don’t you open that one first?”

“Alright...” Tony mumbled as he wandered towards the box. 

He started with the front, making a small tear by scratching it with his finger, and then pulling that small rip, forming a larger one. He scraped away the entire front of the package, revealing a plain brown cardboard box. He looked back towards Pepper, raising his eyebrows signaling if he should continue. She gave the man a small hand wave, telling him to resume. 

He unwrapped the rest until there was just small remnants of paper still taped to the cardboard. The floor around him was piled high with a ridiculous amount of wrapping paper, and Tony wondered how much time Pepper had spent wrapping it. The box wasn’t taped too tightly, so Tony used his fingers and got in between the cracks, and pulled. The whole box fell apart on one go, each side falling a different direction. And to say what was standing in front of him was shocking was an understatement. 

Because right in front of his very own eyes, was Peter Parker.  _ His  _ Peter Parker. The curly brown haired, wearing an ugly Christmas sweater and gray sweatpants, with a huge grin planted on his face, Peter Parker. 

Tony’s eyes widened and his mouth hung open in shock. 

“Hey, Mr. Stark!” The kid said, his smile growing, teeth now poking through his grin. 

_ “Peter!”  _ Tony breathed out as he rushed forward and engulfed him in a giant bear hug. 

Laughing in delight, Peter hugged back. It felt so good to be in the presence of his family he hadn’t seen in oh-so-long. They held onto each other for a few more moments before pulling apart. 

With a hand still on the boy’s shoulder, Tony asked, “What about your projects?”

“Well... I may or may not have made those up,” he answered. 

What? Did he hear that correctly? Was his old age finally getting to him? 

“So… you didn’t have  _ any _ projects to begin with? You were just messing with me?” The man inquired, eyebrows raised. 

Peter nodded. 

“You little shit.”

Peter laughed as Tony drew him in for a side hug. 

“Aw, come on. You love me,” Peter said as he elbowed Tony’s side. 

_ Yeah, I do, kid. More than you could ever know.  _

Instead of saying that, he rolled his eyes, and turned towards his fiancé . 

“And you,” he started, pointing an accusing finger towards her, “you were in on this, too?”

She nodded gleefully. 

“I can’t believe this. Betrayed by my _ own _ family.” Peter snickered and Pepper grinned. “Honestly, I’m hurt.” 

“Oh, stop being such a drama queen and come over here. These presents aren't going to open themselves,” Pepper complied. Nothing more had to be said as both boys took their seats on a nearby sofa. 

The day went on, Rhodey, Happy and May all came over to celebrate along with them, and it was great. Tony’s cheeks hurt from smiling, and he was the happiest he’d felt since before Peter moved to campus. He’d made sure to be as close as he could to Peter for the majority of the time.

He knew, of course, he had to share the kid with everyone else, especially May, but he couldn't help the twinge of selfishness deep down inside him. He chose to not focus on that, and be more in the moment with the people he loved the most. And, god, it was _ great _ . It was a joyous, family celebration, that was perfect in the eyes of Tony. 

Sure, they may have burnt the rolls and spilled the green beans everywhere, but it was amazing nonetheless. If anything, it just added to the perfection, for they all laughed about it and moved on like nothing ever happened in the first place. 

By the end of the night, they were all huddled together on a large sofa watching one of the most classic Christmas movies to ever exist;  _ Home Alone.  _ Peter was between May and Tony, head on the man’s chest, legs on the woman’s lap. 

And as Tony ran his fingers through his kid’s hair, he knew for certain that this was the best Christmas he had ever had. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!!!!!
> 
> Oh, and Merry Christmas! (If you don't celebrate Christmas, then Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, or just Happy Time of the Year!!!)


End file.
